Downtown has seen changes past year

Jun. 29, 2013

Chrissy Reichert of Westlake and Cheryl Rohrer of Columbus spent part of Friday afternoon shopping at the Wide World Shop on Madison Street in downtown Port Clinton. They said they like the idea of having several stores to visit, and plan to come back next year. / Catharine Hadley/News Herald

Written by

Catharine Hadley

Staff writer

PORT CLINTON — On Friday afternoon, Chrissy Reichert of Westlake and Cheryl Rohrer of Columbus were shopping in the Wide World Shop in downtown Port Clinton.

“It seems like there are a lot of empty storefronts,” Rohrer said.

They had planned to do some exploring, and were interested when they heard there are a few similar shops nearby.

“We were planning to go to more shops, until it started raining,” Rohrer said as she looked out the shop window at Friday afternoon’s downpour.

Both women said they would like to return next year, especially if they find more interesting places to shop.

Downtown is different

The face of downtown Port Clinton has changed in the past year. While five businesses have left, more than a dozen new businesses have opened — with O Isabel’s opening soon in the 100 block of Madison Street.

According to Laura Schlachter, the president of the Port Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce and the program manager for Main Street Port Clinton, the new businesses include Keith A. Fleming’s home decor and furniture store, Willow, The Cakery’s Bakery, DeFreitas Events and Travel, 1812 Food & Spirits, Rosie’s Bar & Grill, PC Discount, Unique, Hot Shots Photography & Design, 29-Minute Fitness, On Point Wellness and American Custom Computers.

“I think, absolutely, there’s new energy. There’s new enthusiasm with the number of businesses that are opening, and there’s more demand to come downtown,” Schlachter said. “It’s something people are proud of.”

Year-old businesses

Fleming opened his store about a year ago, and said he hopes the second year will be “less of a struggle.”

This summer, his business is benefiting from repeat customers.

“People are still finding me,” he said. “They say, ‘Oh, we’re so glad you’re still here.’”

He’s excited that a few more similar businesses have opened, because that’s what shoppers want.

“Now there’s more places we can send people to,” he said.

The option of having more places to shop can make the town more of a destination, and Fleming said he appreciates the fact the business owners each have their own niche and work together well.

“I’m glad I’m here,” he said.

Next week marks the one-year anniversary of the opening of The Listening Room, a music venue at Our Guest Inn.

Ron Miller, the owner, has connections to the Nashville music scene and brings singer-songwriters to perform their own work in the intimate venue.

“It’s been like any business. It’s had great times, and we’ve had the times where we’re having to promote it,” he said.

“We think that it’s going forward … our intention is to have this be an ongoing thing, that the people in this area can know that they can see top-flight entertainment that they’d have to go to Nashville and New York City to see.”

He also mentioned the idea of businesses benefiting from other businesses’ successes. “As far as we can tell, just about everybody that comes to our shows also ends up going downtown for dinner after the show, or drinks, or for some other entertainment. That’s the best thing about The Listening Room is that we’re bringing people downtown and they’re spending their dollars downtown.”

Businesses that left downtown

According to Schlachter, the businesses that are no longer operating downtown since last July are the Split Winds Gallery, Red Hot Photography, Dean’s, Belle La Rose and By Laurie.

The former owners of Dean’s now own PC Discount.

For Laronica Priddy, the owner of Belle LaRose Boutique, the move to her new Maple Street location was based more on space than anything else, because she wanted to expand.

“I just didn’t have enough room in the downtown location to be what a ‘boutique’ is expected to be.”

The new business includes clothing, including wedding and evening gowns and swimwear, and it now has a fitting room.

“I have done better business in the months of May and June than I did in my last five months downtown — that location was just too small for customers to feel relaxed in a boutique environment in order to shop.”

Laurie Cirone, the owner of By Laurie, moved her business where she makes and repairs jewelry and sells high-end beads to Oak Harbor.

She had a few reasons for moving. Some were personal family reasons, which made her want to work closer to her home in Oak Harbor.

Cirone said the lack of nearby businesses up to the time she decided to move made her feel isolated and uncomfortable.

A third reason has to do with the February 2012 death of her landlord, Bob Underwood. “For a long time Mr. Underwood would come into my store and say, ‘It’s just you and me again,’ because the restaurant people would come and go,” she said. “When he passed away, it was a hole in my heart and it didn’t feel good like it did before.”

Cirone said she’s been advertising, and her customers are following her to Oak Harbor. “Once they find out where I’m at, they come. I’m not that far, relatively, when people are looking for jewelry repair, custom jewelry and beads.”

The voice of experience

Mary Snyder’s Mary’s Blossom Shoppe has been a downtown landmark for years, and has witnessed the effect of the cycles of the local economy.

“We’re on an upswing now, instead of a downswing,” she said.

Like Fleming, she appreciates the fact that business owners each have their niche. “I love having other interesting shops and interesting places,” she said.

She also thinks the downtown area is becoming more of a destination. “I would say I certainly see more foot traffic around. It’s been wonderful,” Snyder said.